Creating a sense of comfort and calm
This artist’s concept shows what the chemotherapy treatment area on the second level of the cancer centre will look like. This area features wall-to-wall windows. The walls between the treatment spaces are designed to create privacy while allowing natural light to flow through the space to help create a healing environment.
Overview of cancer centre:
- Accommodate 80,000 patient visits per year
- Provide systemic (chemotherapy and related therapies), radiation and surgical oncology services
- House 4 radiation treatment units (3 functioning initially), 35 chemotherapy spaces, and 2 outpatient clinics
- Triple the number of oncology care providers
- Help reduce wait times for diagnosis and treatment
- Expand opportunities for clinical trials and research
- Enable participation in on-site training of doctors with McMaster medical school
The first level will house:
- Radiation therapy
- Conference and education facilities
- Resource library
- Supportive care
The second level will include:
- Outpatient clinics
- Systemic therapies, including chemotherapy
- Satellite pharmacy
- Clinical trials
- Medical staff facilities
- Administration
Anyone who has sat quietly in the waiting area of a hospital for a treatment or an assessment with a physician specialist knows the tension and fear that build with every moment that ticks by. For cancer patients waiting time after time for multiple chemotherapy or radiation treatments, sometimes the wait can be as overwhelming as the treatment itself.
Opens in 2013
When it opens in 2013, the Walker Family Cancer Centre will become the hub of a co-ordinated regional cancer treatment network for Niagara, meaning that 95% of Niagara cancer patients will be able to receive their chemotherapy and radiation treatment in Niagara.
Radiation therapy
The most anticipated new service that will be offered at the Walker Family Cancer Centre, and in Niagara for the first time, is radiation therapy.
“Waiting in a doctor’s office or a treatment centre is not easy for anyone, especially for those who haven’t yet or have just been diagnosed,” explains Linda Boich, Vice President, Patient Services and Strategy. “Creating a sense of comfort and calm in and around the Walker Family Cancer Centre has been a key priority for us in the design and development of the centre.”
The 67,000-square-foot cancer centre will occupy the first two levels of a four-level outpatient section of the new health complex. The design of the cancer centre incorporates many natural elements and finishes like wood and stone, along with plenty of natural light.
“We wanted the surroundings inside and around the cancer centre to be welcoming to people. We didn’t want the facility to look institutional and cold,” says Linda. “There are some really innovative yet functional features like curved partition walls between the treatment areas.”
Niagara’s cancer centre will be equipped with three radiation treatment rooms. These rooms will house linear accelerators – powerful X-ray machines that produce ionizing radiation to direct radiation beams to the patient’s tumour from different angles in order to destroy tumour cells.
The cancer centre is being constructed alongside the new healthcare complex, which will replace the aging St. Catharines General and Ontario Street sites in St. Catharines. The facility will serve as an acute care hospital for St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake and surrounding area, providing acute inpatient care, surgical oncology and diagnostic services to support the cancer centre.
Construction is on budget and on schedule at over 50% completion and is on track for completion on November 26, 2012. Following a few months transition for training and orientation, the new health complex will open its doors to provide patient care in the spring of 2013. «
